August 15, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 12, 1429

QUETTA, Aug 14: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani has said that the Constitution needs to be radically amended to steer the country out of the constitutional and political crisis it is facing.

Addressing the Independence Day flag-hoisting ceremony at the Balochistan assembly on Thursday, he said: “It is high time that sanity prevails. If we want to live like one nation we must overhaul our behaviour and conduct.”

He reiterated his demand for a new social contract on the basis of the Pakistan Resolution of 1940. The people of Balochistan demanded their constitutional, political and economic rights, including control over their resources, but the rulers used brutal force to crush them.

He said it was unfortunate that some influential sections of the society had refused to learn any lesson from the past and still believed that brute force could solve problems.

The chief minister said injustices done to the smaller provinces and the usurpation of their resources had engendered a sense of deprivation among the people.

He said that excessive use of force and the stubborn attitude of the authorities were the main reasons behind the prevailing unrest in the province.

He said that in the 1973 Constitution, the rights of “all federating units were accepted, their equal rights were guaranteed and it was agreed that all powers would be devolved to the provinces within 10 years. But a dictator abrogated the Constitution”.

Nawab Raisani said the Constitution had been repeatedly amended depriving the small provinces of their rights.